That sounds delicious, thank you! Photo credit: Nathan Motoyama/EyeEm/Getty Images June is food month on the ERM blog! This story's about the headline, Loud music makes you eat bad food?!?!?Whaaaaaaatever! QRock 100.7 was one of several news outlets that had fun describing this study for its readers. Let's find out what kind of study was …
Category: Chapter 02; Sources of Information
Media coverage of a meta-analysis
Can a meta-analytic effect size of .3 be considered "proof"? Credit: Ken Weinrich/Shutterstock Journalists made some dramatic media claims about a study released in February: Study proves anti-depressants are effective. It's not quackery: Antidepressants work. Period. It's official: Antidepressants are not snake oil or a conspiracy--they work. As you can see, these journalists (or their …
Economics of sleep
The sun sets in Amarillo, TX an hour later than it does in Huntsville, AL though they are on the same time zone. Amarillo residents get less sleep and earn more money: Is there a causal connection? Photo: Creativeedits/Wikimedia Common Sleep is an essential human function and getting more sleep is associated with improved mood, …
How can we reduce racial biases?
One of the studies randomly assigned White college freshmen to have a White or a Black roommate, and measured the students' bias long term. Credit: ©Syracuse Newspapers / N. Lisi / The Image Works The year 2016 provided multiple references to implicit and explicit racial biases, especially in politics. So you might be wondering, What does …
Want to get smarter? Brain games won’t help….
Playing checkers won't make you smarter in general, but it will make you smarter at checkers! Photo: Shutterstock / Jaren Jai Wicklun A variety of research methods concepts are illustrated in this NPR story, Brain Games Fail a Big Scientific Test. Let's go through the journalist's story, connecting the material to course concepts. The article starts with the …
Continue reading Want to get smarter? Brain games won’t help….
Evidence-based parenting interventions
ABC is an evidence-based parent-training program. Why are evidence-based interventions important? Photo: Shutterstock Here's a story about how a New York City-based organization called Power of Two is using empirical evidence to help children and families. The story begins by explaining how difficult it can be for families to handle the stresses of living in poverty. …
How fast do people talk? Depends on where you live….
How fast do people talk? How wordy are they? Do they swear a lot? Photo credit: Eugenio Marongiu/Shutterstock There's a new piece in the Atlantic summarizing some research on phone calls. The journalist's piece is tantalizing, but it doesn't provide some of the information you need to evaluate the research behind it. According to the …
Continue reading How fast do people talk? Depends on where you live….
Preschool in Tulsa: Success story….or not?
Why might it be difficult to study the long-term impact of quality preschool programs? Photo: Shutterstock An NPR feature story recently covered Tulsa, Oklahoma's free preschool program, which began about 10 years ago. Like some other cities around the U.S., Tulsa introduced a free pre-K program, with the goal of helping children from all economic …
Meow! “Viewing cat videos boosts energy and mood” Really?
This respondent said that watching cat videos causes her mood to improve. What do you think? Photo: Rasulovs/Thinkstock. Here's a provocative headline from Medical News Today: Viewing cat videos boosts energy and positive emotions. That sounds like exciting news to me: The causal claim implies that we should watch some of those cute kitty videos …
Continue reading Meow! “Viewing cat videos boosts energy and mood” Really?
Thinking critically about data graphics
There's a fun interactive datagraphic on gallup.com's website. It's called "State of the States." You can select a polling variable, such as "overall well-being," "support for Obama," or "religiosity," and it will show you how each U.S. state scores on that variable. Feel free to take a minute to play with the interactive right now. …